The Battle of Wakefield 1460

Richard joined me in testing the Battle of Wakefield scenario in a one-on-one game.  My main goal (besides having an enjoyable game) was to see if the scenario might offer enough of an interesting situation to broadcast to multiplayer audiences.  The version of the battle I am grounding the scenario on presents an asymmetrical challenge for the Yorkists especially.  Among the many and varied rationalizations for the battle (or no battle!), the scenario emphasized the Rescue Party and Hubris theories while discounting some of the Deception theories.  After laying out the situation in a Battle Briefing, Richard jumped at the chance to take command of the underdog Yorkists in his attempt to overturn history.  Richard's battle report is found at Battle of Wakefield 1460.  Do pop over and visit Richard's blog to read his account if you already have not.  Good stuff!  

Initial Situation.

The battle opens with the foraging party on its way back to Sandal Castle under pressure from the enemy.  The Duke of York decamps from Sandal Castle and launches an aggressive attack toward Somerset to protect the foraging party.  As York moves north, Northumberland arrives on the battlefield pulling up alongside Somerset.  As the forage train plods south, Rutland turns his archers to face Northumberland.

York moves up to support the forage train...

as Northumberland comes up in support of Somerset.

After letting loose a volley of arrows, York guides left and passes his melee lines through his archers.  Northumberland is the target of this attack.  Northumberland's archers let off a volley before retiring through his own melee line.  In the close combat, York is stopped but Northumberland recoils back through his archers when his troops panic.

York attacks!

York's attack is stopped... 

but Northumberland panics.

With York not having yet recovered from his setback against Northumberland, Somerset leads his men into the already wavering York.  York is pushed back.  Somerset does not follow up mainly because he is carried from the field wounded.  Having rallied his men, Northumberland leads a counterattack back into York.  In heavy fighting, York's MAA are destroyed and York goes down on the field, dead.  York's billmen have seen enough.  They scatter.  York's Battle breaks before Salisbury can come up in support.  Clifford arrives onto the field of battle to Somerset's left.

Somerset attacks...

followed up by Northumberland's attack.

York falls, dead on the field, his Battle broken.

With York dispatched, Salisbury has the unenviable task of delaying the advance of the enemy alone.  The forage carts are making slow progress along the road.  Salisbury must trade space for time to allow the forage party to reach the castle. 

Lancastrians converge upon Salisbury.

In a desperate move, Salisbury launches an attack into Northumberland in order to neutralize one Battle before the other two blows fall.

In hard fighting, Northumberland's MAA scatter as both Salisbury and Northumberland go down leading their troops.  Salisbury's melee line presses forward into Northumberland's archers as well.  The Lancastrian archers fall back.  The momentum of the attack carries Salisbury's troops into Somerset.  The Yorkist attack is repulsed with heavy casualties.  Somerset advances with Salisbury's archers falling back before.  Somerset smashes into Salisbury.  Salisbury's MAA are cut down.     

Northumberland's MAA scatter as Salisbury presses on.

Somerset counterattacks, driving the enemy back.

Salisbury teeters on the breaking point.

With one last push forward, Somerset hits Salisbury's wavering billmen.  As expected, the billmen collapse and so does Salisbury's Battle.  The Yorkist army reaches the breaking point and retires with what remains of the army.

One last shove and the Yorkist Army collapses.

For the Duke of York, this battle is truly over.  Leader casualties were extremely high with four of the six Battle commanders going down in the fight.  For the Yorkists, Richard and Salisbury were dead.  For the Lancastrians, Northumberland was dead and Somerset wounded. 

In the end, Rutland escaped this battle unharmed.  Otherwise, the narrative of the game followed the traditional narrative quite closely.  Did the Yorkists have a chance?  Well, perhaps not much but had York's initial attack against Northumberland gone in Richard's favor, the outcome could have been very different.

Post-game discussion focused on modifying the scenario to make a more even contest.  While the game produced the historical (and likely the most expected result), we discussed allowing more easy passage through the hedges lining the road and allowing Salisbury to come one turn earlier.  Game duration was about 90 minutes.  

Interesting battle and a very good game.  Thank you, Richard!

Another Hard Day for Edward!

In the last Battle of Mortimer's Cross (see The Man Who Won't Be King), the game saw Edward IV wounded and carried away by the enemy.  That day was a hard one for Edward.

Following that episode, Chris, and the Two Dave's joined in to refight this battle for a fourth time last week.  With only three players, Dave B. (DB) took command of the entire Yorkist Army (red dice) alone while Chris and Dave C. (DC) split the Lancastrian command (blue dice).  DC would take command of the army and Pembroke's center Battle with Chris taking command of the two Lancastrian wings.

As a refresher, initial deployments looked thusly,

Initial deployments

As the title suggests, Edward may have seen another hard day on the field.  Let's find out!

When the battle begins, Edward places Herbert and his own command on Engage orders.  Devereaux is given Defend.  On the other side of the field, Pembroke puts himself on Engage while the two wings opt for Maneuver orders.

Let the battle begin!

Straight away, Pembroke and Edward collide along the Old Roman Road.  As the two bodies of men close, archers fire and retire to the rear.  The two melee lines crash into each other with Edward and Pembroke leading the way.  In the initial collision, men fall on both sides.  Edward's battle takes the worst of the punishment and falls back.  Edward is wounded in the chaos and is captured by the Lancastrians!  Deja vu from the earlier game!  DB cannot believe his luck but then neither can DC!  Pembroke either fails to pursue or chooses not to do so.  I don’t remember which!

Pembroke and Edward clash...

and the Yorkists retire without Edward!

Herbert, on the Yorkist Left continues his march toward Tudor while across the battlefield, Wiltshire takes the fight to Deveraux positioned on the Yorkist Right.

With a slight lull in the center, the wings move into action.

Tudor, who by now has successfully changed his orders to Engage, moves on Herbert.  Herbert's archers are driven off and Tudor's melee line smacks into Herbert's melee line.  Herbert suffers tremendous casualties and retires pushing his archers back as well.  Tudor follows up but cannot reach Herbert's men to continue the melee.

After driving off enemy archers, Tudor attacks!

Herbert's MAA are heavily bloodied and retreat.

Back in the fight along the Old Roman Road, Edward (well, ex-Edward now), brings up his second body of MAA forward to engage Pembroke.  Pembroke's first melee line stands firm and the Yorkists are repulsed.  With the enemy falling back, Pembroke launches a counterattack.  The Yorkists are forced back once again.  Nearing exhaustion, Pembroke cannot break the enemy's will.  The Yorkists stand firm and Pembroke retires.

Yorkist MAA attack in the center...

and are driven off!

Pembroke pursues...

but cannot break the enemy's line.

Against the Yorkist Right and Devereaux, Wiltshire goes in.  In very heavy fighting, Devereaux is pushed back not once but twice!  Wiltshire's success and tenacity pushes Devereaux and his Battle right off the table!  One Yorkist Battle broken!

Wiltshire attacks...

driving Devereaux clean off the table!

The fighting in the center continues.  Pembroke's first melee line attacks Edward's MAA.  Stubbornly and somewhat unexpectedly, the Lancastrians are repulsed!  As Pembroke's first line falls back, his second body of MAA advances to contact the enemy.  The enemy is driven back in a chain reaction as formations behind are, likewise, pushed back.  Edward's Battle clings to the edge of the board.  With Wiltshire now unopposed on Edward's right ready to strike, Pembroke makes one more push into the wavering Yorkists.  That one last shove is all that is needed to put Edward's Battle to flight.  This battle is over.  Victory to the Lancastrian Army and Pembroke!

Pembroke renews his attack and is repulsed.

Lancastrian reinforcements join in pushing the enemy back.

Yorkist Center clings to the table...

but one last attack puts the Yorkists to flight!

This was a convincing win by the Lancastrian Army as the Butcher's Bill, below, attests.  Yikes!  Congratulations to DC and Chris for a well-played game.  Despite DB's seeming inability to put up a solid defense due to the Dice Gods, the Lancastrians capitalized on every Yorkist misstep and missed opportunity.  

Butcher's Bill

DB, that was a tough game, and another hard day for Edward.  The dice rarely showed you any favor on this day.  You took it all with grace.  Usually, DC is on the end of terrible dice rolls so seeing DC's fortunes reverse was a positive even at your expense.  We should bring you fellas back to the table for a rematch but, perhaps, a new battle.

Thanks again, guys!  This was a very entertaining game.

The Man Who Won't Be King

On 23 June, four of Postie's Rejects gathered around my remote wargaming table for a try at the Mortimer's Cross battle.

Lee (Edward IV) and Dan (Herbert and Devereaux) commanded the Yorkist Army (red dice) while Richard (Pembroke) and Steve (Wiltshire and Tudor) commanded the Lancastrian Army (blue dice).  Richard has played the rules before, but this is the first trial for the other three players.  Let's see how it goes.

Armies arrayed for battle.

Lancastrians to the south...

and Yorkists to the north.

The commander attributes generated by players for this battle are,

with all commanders rated as Brave except for Wiltshire who is Inspiring.  Pembroke is most concerned with Winning the Battle, while Tudor and Wiltshire are aiming for Personal Survival.  All three Yorkist commanders are set on attaining Personal Glory. 

The battle opens with both of Edward's wings stepping forward while Edward, himself, remains on the defense.  Remaining on a defensive posture may make attaining personal glory difficult!  Mirroring his enemy across the field, Pembroke orders his two wings forward to contest the ground that Edward wants to grab.

Yorkists' wings advance...

while Lancastrian wings follow suit.

As the wings of the two armies close the distance, first shots of the battle are let loose by Tudor's Battle.  Tudor's archers force Herbert's archers to retire to safety behind their own melee line.  With his own archers falling back, Herbert brings his melee line forward toward Tudor's bowmen.  The Lancastrian archers fire into the approaching enemy before falling back behind their melee line.  No effect is noted.  Tudor's archers, however, delay long enough for Tudor's melee line to counterattack.  In a lengthy melee seeing heavy casualties to all, Tudor's men are repulsed.  They retreat back.  That did not go as planned!  

Tudor's archers retire...

as does his melee line.

Over against the Yorkist Right, Wiltshire strikes first but is, likewise, repulsed.  Casualties are light.  This battle is starting off roughly for the Lancastrians.  Devereaux moves forward into Wiltshire.  After forcing Wiltshire's archers back, Devereaux's melee line collides with Wiltshire's melee line.  In contrast to the action on the Yorkist Left, Yorkist infantry are driven back with great loss to both combatants.  Actually, losses are extremely heavy to Devereaux and his MAA are lucky to remain holding on by only a thread.  Seeing the disruption to the enemy, Wiltshire brings forward his archers and sends a missile volley into the wavering MAA.  One volley is enough to send the Yorkist MAA on their way to the rear as the billmen fall back in sympathy.  Their battle is done. 

Devereaux drives off Wiltshire's archers
 before hitting the enemy melee line.

Wiltshire's archers move up and give the enemy a volley.

That is enough to send Devereux's MAA
and supporting billmen back. 

With Edward still sitting astride the crossroads on defend orders and Pembroke moving up to engage but still a long way away, Tudor counterattacks Herbert.  After scattering Herbert's archers, Tudor crashes into the enemy melee line.  Having already been battered in their earlier fight, Herbert reluctantly retires.  Tudor is too exhausted to follow up this success.   

Herbert and Tudor bashing each other again!

Pembroke advancing down the main road
 as Edward sits on his laurels.

Tudor and Herbert running out of steam as losses mount.

With Edward still struggling to encourage his men to go onto the attack, Pembroke strikes!  Using his archers to soften up the enemy by forcing Edward's archers to the rear, Pembroke plunges into Edward with his first melee line.  Fighting is hot but with Edward remaining at the front, the Yorkists see the enemy off.  In retreat, Pembroke's first melee line passes back through his second melee line.  Now Edward snaps into action!  Following up the retreating enemy, Edward collides with Pembroke's second body of MAA.  In the clash, Edward goes down with serious wounds.  As the Yorkists continue to fight on, they gain the upper hand.  The Lancastrians retire, taking Edward with them!  Determined to rescue Edward, the Yorkists continue to pursue the enemy.  Scattering the single body of enemy MAA, Edward is nowhere to be found among the wreckage.     

Pembroke advances...

crashing into Edward's Battle.

Pembroke's main melee line is forced back...

with Edward in hot pursuit!

Edward overcomes the enemy again but falls in the chaos.
Edward is carried away by the enemy.

Fighting to rescue Edward... 

Pembroke's MAA scatter
 but Edward is not among the casualties.

Seeing Pembroke falling back in the center, Tudor attacks Herbert in an attempt to stabilize the situation so that his flank is not left hanging in air.  In a lengthy melee, Tudor is killed when his melee line breaks.  When the melee line breaks, Tudor's Battle also breaks!  With Pembroke continuing to fall back in the center under pressure from Edward's Battle (well, ex-Edward's Battle) and Tudor broken, the situation looks dire for the Lancastrian Army.  Help is needed.  That help is found in Wiltshire still battling on the Lancastrian Left.  Wiltshire redoubles his efforts against Devereaux.  Devereaux, already greatly weakened by earlier exertions, collapses under these renewed attacks.  Devereaux's Battle breaks.    

Tudor attacks...

but is killed in the hand-to-hand fighting.

Tudor's Battle breaks!

Each army now has one Battle broken.  Next army to break a second enemy Battle can claim victory.  We need not wait long.  As Tudor's archers slowly retire from the field, they deliver a long-range volley.  It hits home.  Herbert's wavering MAA are destroyed!  This battle is over!

Herbert breaks!

Victory to the Lancastrians!  Congratulations to the Lancastrian commanders, Richard and Steve!  Well done, guys!  To the Yorkists, Lee and Dan, it was a close and hard-fought contest, but it was not to be on this day.  Edward IV will not be King.  Reports still are not listing his where abouts.  The Butcher's Bill illustrates the closeness of this battle.  With one broken Battle each and all Battles suffering from their efforts, the outcome was really a toss-up until the very end.  After a seemingly endless string of Lancastrian losses on the table, that run is broken.  

Butcher's Bill

To read Richard's account of the battle, please visit Battle of Mortimer's Cross. 

Thanks to all players for providing a very enjoyable game.  That was really great fun and much appreciated.

One more Mortimer's Cross battle to fight and chronicle and then what?